Robert M. Thorson

Columnist

This professor-geologist slouched into op-ed journalism along a career path that makes sense only in retrospect. As a high-school kid in the late-1960s I was assigned to sit in Jackass Row by my English teacher, for what I now realize were two lifelong personality traits, strong opinions and a thick skin.

In college, I flirted with deep ecology before the word was invented. In graduate school, I honed my analytical skills while writing a dissertation involving glaciology and crustal geophysics. After that, my wife and I raised four children whose differing educational needs forced me to grapple with the politics of disability, tracking in education, nature vs. nurture, and the toxicity of American youth culture. And for fun, I wrote a few books about stone walls that did quite well, thereby learning the true meaning of "publish or perish."

One day, a veteran journalist recruited me to submit articles to major regional newspapers, especially The Courant. All were published. The next thing you know, I was first scientist to write a regular op-ed columnist for The Courant. That was more than 10 years ago.

My columns reflect the opinions of a lifelong natural scientist committed to wider science literacy in American culture. They are voluntary public-service contributions that, for me, are less boring than meetings and less painful than politics. They express intellectual independence because the security of my day job -- a tenured full professor -- insulates me from political, economic and collegial revenge. They deal with whatever is trending for me at the time.

Recent Articles

Let's make America great again by rethinking a new federalism with respect to disaster relief. Let's start by aiding the afflicted states right away, whether for hurricanes in Texas and in Florida, wildfires in California or drought in the Dakotas. Let's end by exempting the self-inflicted components...

It rankles me that the state of Connecticut is still without a budget. Our legislators ended their session leaving their most important task unfinished and blaming each other for the failure. This was flagrantly irresponsible. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy had to step in and allocate funds by executive...

"Holy Cow! The sun is disappearing! Now what?" This is what I imagine prescientific people saying during their first solar eclipse experience. We have nothing to fear during the eclipse that will sweep across the United States on Monday because we know exactly how, why and where it will occur. ...

Drain the swamp. This is one of Donald Trump's favorite expressions. Earlier this year, on Feb. 28, he issued an executive order to drain the metaphorical swamp of federal regulations that protect the actual swamps of our national landscapes. I agree that the regulatory swamps (so-called) need...

Two hallmark majors of liberal arts schools — English and philosophy — are being eliminated from Colby-Sawyer College's curriculum. This isn't because the New London, N.H., college doesn't value them, but because the it can't afford them. Taking their place are more popular vocational programs...

Henry David Thoreau celebrated Independence Day by moving to Walden Pond, in Concord Mass., on July 4, 1845. The book that resulted, "Walden," made that ordinary place world famous. On Independence Day, I skipped the fireworks to read about his commitment to freedom: to life, liberty and the pursuit...

Sometimes I just shake my head when politicians just don't get it. Things like U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry's recent denial that carbon emissions have a significant role in climate warming, and Donald Trump's recent decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement. As a proud American, I'm...

Last year, public displays of Confederate flags were taken down. This spring, the statues of those who flew them came down in New Orleans, for example Gen. Robert E. Lee of Virginia. I'm delighted to see the statues of apparently otherwise honorable men disappear because the slave-holding ideology...